Sometimes I feel like TCDCDBers are capable of being in normal lasting relationships but choose not to be. I mean if they put in half as much energy into the actual relationships as they did into blogging about the relationship they might have better luck.

Bling and blonde. Adapting to the plastic surgeon’s office. Rantings of a Creole Princess

A 2005 exhibition of knitted sculpture in a Washington DC office building sparked controversy among tenants because it included work that the tenants (predominately lawyers) found offensive. The controversy centered on crocheted sculptures by local artist Ming Yi Sung (now Zeleski) that showed human figures and monkeys complete with crocheted nipples and genitalia…

A childhood memory of a painful time is the topic of this post, Why Don’t You Take Me to the Park Anymore? This writer looks back at his mother’s illness and a life unanchored and then reassembled. It is as beautiful and touching post that you will likely read. I wish I was like you, easily amused

The bidding has begun. This is a charity auction for a good cause by the women of No Sex & the City. The bidding is for a group of eligible bachelors. The money will go to help end violence against women. The men are listed with photos.

This writer’s fruitless effort to catch a bus is witnessed by a passing driver in a blue truck. The driver rolls down the window and yells: “We gonna catch that bus! Get in!” From Shiftless Badger.

Romancing the libraries. There has been much discussion on a number of blogs about the integrity of library collections as they become more bookstore-like. But the writer at The Diplodocus argues that a library’s greatest contribution isn’t so much its collection but the habit it instills. An excerpt:

The library didn’t instill any erudition; I never checked out anything that would embiggen me. What the library did do is jumpstart the habit of reading for enjoyment, make reading less of a task and more of a pleasure.

A couch for sale that’s priced on a sliding scale. A Craig’s List find by 007 In Africa. [Nod to Janet at DC Rush Hour] And if you’re still in the shopping mood after reading that post, check out K Street Blues, who is selling furniture as he prepares to move to Sydney.

Rant of the week. Memo to the driver who kept honking his horn: Please don’t breed and pass down your idiot genes. My first year of law school, and hopefully beyond. [Nod to E for this as well as the next one]

Dear Benrock. A letter to a rock that was painted in 1984 by a five-year-old. By Ken and Belly.

Smokeless journals: Hey Pretty experiences fresh air at Fox and Hounds and reminisces: Unpleasant as it was, eye watering even, the Fox always had it’s own particular variety of this olfactory phenomenon — think Proust’s madelines for the under-30-Dupont-hipster set. Rock Creek Rambler: It wasn’t just a cigarette – it was an act of love.

Despite the gains, or maybe because of them, I sense a creeping complacency among too many residents (both new and long-timers). My new year’s wish is that every single resident will find some way to contribute to our wonderful and changing area. There are plenty of people leading by example. But they can’t do it alone. It literally will take all of us, together.

It would not be surprising if 200 or more people are required to report for jury duty daily in DC. Many more probably don’t or just can’t show. So this warning about a jury duty scam at A ‘Feel Good’ Production is worth the look.

Once inside the Capital, we quickly filed past President Ford’s casket in the Rotunda. No stopping. Seriously don’t even slow down, because a guard will yell at you, even if you are just bending down to talk to your child about what you’re doing there – because you should have done that before you came, I guess.

At the end of the path around the cortege, Ford family members stood to personally thank each and every person who shuffled by. It was a touching moment, I thought, a reminder that the occupant of the coffin nearby wasn’t just a figurehead or politician, but a real person with a family and private life just like all of us.

Regarding those Ford Administration-era photos of Dick Cheney, Kittens with Mittens writes: A young and virile looking Cheney does invoke much more fear than something as silly as cloned food.

About WaPo’s recent story concerning the early blooming of plants, the Washington Gardener writes … the “Forsythia” referred to in their article as being seen in bloom all over town is most likely Winter Jasmine instead. Even experienced gardeners seem to get the plants mixed up and it is a shame, as they both deserve a place in your landscape for no other reason but then to lengthen the flower season.

Generally, we usually advise readers never to move outside this area because of risk of developing outside-the-beltway thinking habits. The former Playful in DC blogger, who now writes Playful in NC has thoughtfully provided visual proof of what may happen if you leave this area. (Thanks to Reya)

Criteria for DC Blogs Noted? This is the question asked in a recent post at On Rush Hour in DC. I’ve been trying to figure out what the criteria are that result in blogs being chosen as “DC Blogs Noted” every day? A main complaint is some blogs seem to appear more frequently than others in this column. We’ve never accepted donations to run this site in order to maintain editorial independence, so any perception that some blogs get more attention then others is disquieting. The criteria are essentially this: Find interesting, novel, heart-wrench, funny and hopefully honest posts that tell us something about the place and times we live in. Search out Metro area writers and expose them to the broader DC universe, which is the main mission and the thing that has made this worth doing. I always worry about overexposing someone in the noted column or neglecting someone who deserves more. It’s also very easy to miss a good post; the local blog universe keeps expanding. Writers are always encouraged to send in links of something they have written that they feel has turned out well or recommend the work of others. There are also some regular behind-the-scenes contributors of suggested links. I believe we have been true to the goals for the Noted column, but also believe that feedback is important to ensure it stays that way. — kob.

Site Note: Due to a perfect storm of problems: short work week, tight deadlines, jury duty and minor cold, I have to skip publishing Thur. Back Friday. Regards — kob